Google Stays Ahead of Silicon Valley Pack on Engineer Salaries

Google Inc. is staying well armed in at least one aspect of the ongoing battle for Silicon Valley talent.

The Mountain View, Calif., Internet company has faced a wave of competition in hiring in recent years thanks to younger Internet firms like Facebook Inc. So Google is seeking to remain a talent magnet, partly through an above-average average salary for engineers, according to a new study from job listings and information site Glassdoor.

According to the study, Google software engineers earn an average base salary of $128,336, ahead of Facebook’s $123,626. Apple Inc. registered at $114,413 this year, the study says, while eBay Inc. pays $108,809 and Zynga Inc. stands at $105,568.

For companies like Facebook and Zynga, which have seen the value of employee equity stakes tumble following their respective IPOs, base salary takes on more importance in terms of overall compensation.

Google, meanwhile, has sought to make salary a key selling point. Last year, the company issued an across-the-board, 10% raise to all employees.

A Google spokeswoman declined to comment, as did a spokeswoman at Apple. Spokespeople for Facebook, Zynga and eBay didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

While Google may be ahead in terms of engineer base salaries, Facebook appears to be closing the gap, Glassdoor says. According to the study, the average salary difference between the firms narrowed to $4,710 this year from $6,852 in the prior year.

Most of the top Silicon Valley firms listed in the Glassdoor report remain comfortably ahead of the national average for a software engineer’s base salary, which stands at $92,648. That’s a 2.5% increase compared to last year, Glassdoor says.